More Filipinos claimed their families were victims of common crimes in the past six months, the third quarter Social Weather Stations survey released Thursday night showed.
In the survey conducted from Sept. 15 to 23 with 1,500 respondents, 6.1 percent or about 1.4 million families said they experienced being victimized by any of the common crimes, such as pickpocket or robbery of personal property, break-ins, carnapping, and physical violence within the past six months.
This is 0.7 point above the 5.3 percent or 1.2 million in June 2018 and the same as the 6.1 percent in September 2017.
Except in March 2013 and June 2016 when it was at 10.5 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively, victimization of families by any common crime has been at single-digit levels from March 2012 to September 2018.
Since 1989, SWS has been asking respondents of each quarterly survey whether or not any household member became a victim of street robbery, home break-in, or violence in the past six months.
In 1992, SWS added motor vehicle theft to its list of crimes specifically monitored.
Victimization by common crimes reported in SWS surveys is much higher than the number of crimes actually reported to the police: Property crimes, 5.6 percent (1.3 million families); street robbery, 4.6 percent (1.1 million households); break-ins, two percent (474,000 families); and carnapping, 0.6 percent (50,000 families). (Ellalyn V. Ruiz)
